Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Ceux qu'il nous faut retrouver by Joan He

31 reviews

decklededgess's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

trigger warnings: death, death of parent, grief, gore, gun violence, physical injury and violence, mental illness, murder, anxiety and panic disorder, classism, sexual content, suicide, violence

Based on the premise of this book, I expected two sisters separated by circumstance trying to find out what happened/trying to get back to each other. I did not expect a futuristic commentary of environmental deterioration, social media/s toxic impact on class hierarchy and disengagement from reality, and a deeply incisive look into what it means to trust and to be family.

Ouch.

That's really all I want to say because every point past 30% is a spoiler for some spectacular plot twists. The book leaves you with the perfect amount of explicit information to let you sit and ponder the what ifs of what happens past the last page and in the unsaid moments. Beautifully done.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Classism

rhm04's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Drug use, Cancer, Terminal illness, Violence, Death of parent, Medical content, Murder, Self harm, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Abandonment, and Cursing

Minor: Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit

hello_lovely13's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Death, Grief, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Classism

Minor: Sexual content

mikaelaandherbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Death, Grief, Murder, and Suicide

Minor: Sexual content

smrj's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

eliame_03's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Grief, and Sexual content

mattiedancer's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 Writing: 4⭐️/5 

Solidly written with some truly beautiful sections. Lots of really great foreshadowing that you don’t necessarily realize until you look back on it. Parts of the story can be a bit jarring and confusing, though He mostly smooths these out quickly. 

 

Characters: 4⭐️/5 

Beautifully different characters with realistic flaws and goals. The end felt a bit forced onto the characters, rather than created by the characters. Some sacrifices for plot over characters. 

 

Plot: 4.75⭐️/5 

Superb plot. Everything felt wrapped up at the end, but not too neatly. Some good surprises that didn’t feel forced or fake. 

 

Post-Reading Rating:  5⭐️/5 

Amazing plot. Interesting, thoughtful, well-developed and thought out. 

 

Final Rating: 4.5⭐️/5 

 

Notes: Joan He definitely sacrificed a bit of characterization for plot. Feels like a gem of the genre, regardless. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Sexual content

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, and Terminal illness

sarah984's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Overall I enjoyed this one. The author’s note mentioned it feeling weird to edit this book in 2020, and it definitely feels weird to read after having lived through so many climate emergencies in 2021.

Most of the characters are interesting and the central dilemmas of the book feel real. I loved the robot U-me and Cee’s routine on the island. However, I thought the romance was extremely silly and the ending was a little muddled.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, and Terminal illness

Minor: Alcohol, Body horror, Cancer, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

f18's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cancer, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent

emily_mh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Okay this book hit me quite hard which is the main reason why I've rated it so highly. It was confronting and haunting; whenever I finished a reading stint I had to stare into space for a bit and process what I had just read. It raised so many challenging questions, like how much personal freedom we can morally have in an environmental crisis, and who gets to decide who survives such a crisis. I was fascinated by how He envisioned the future of humanity, especially the solutions people made to reduce their carbon footprint. I also loved the sister relationship in this. They had such deep connection and love for one another. 

I docked my rating half a star for two reasons. The first is that the writing could be very confusing from Kasey's perspective, both in terms of world-building and interpreting her personality. The pacing in this perspective also grew to be quite erratic. The second reason was the romance.

I wish that Cee and Hero's relationship had been platonic. Or at least if it had to be romantic/sexual, I wish that their physical intimacy wasn't the reason why Cee's happiness spiked so high. Emotional connection provides happiness too, and more stable happiness that I feel that Kasey would have programmed for.

In all honesty though, when a book impacts me the way this one did, reasons such as those aforementioned aren't enough to significantly affect the overall star rating, hence only a half-star dock.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Cancer, and Violence

Moderate: Cursing, Grief, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Murder, Physical abuse, Gore, Body horror, Blood, and Self harm

Minor: Drug use, Excrement, Vomit, Racism, Sexual content, Confinement, Child death, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Gun violence, and Sexual violence